The plot focuses on the comical mishaps of Ilya, a student at a university in Moscow, as he tried to impress the charming and beautiful Katya.
Ilya's first day is marked by his attempt to impress Katya (Natalya Varley), a fellow literature student known for her grace and intelligence.
To catch her attention, Ilya decides to climb the university's historical clock tower to announce the new academic year with flair.
As Ilya accidentally breaks pieces of the tower and throws gears out of joint, the watchmaker frantically attempts to repair the damage.
The chaos peaks during a solemn opening ceremony where the clock strikes every minute, causing professors to duck in alarm, students to laugh, and Katya to look up in confusion and slight amusement.
Later in the day, outside, Ilya mistakes a meeting of a young communist group for the drama club and signs up, thinking he'll be acting in a play.
Dmitri (Yuri Nikulin), the stern leader of the young communists, remembers Ilya from the clock tower incident and decides that including him in a rally might bring out more students.
Instead, Ilya, with no clue about the actual topic, delivers a passionate monologue about the importance of laughter and comedy in life, quoting from Gogol and Chekhov out of context.
The band scatters as Ilya desperately chases the float in circles past bewildered professors and the dean, who yells loudly to get the parade under control.
During the performance in front of hundreds of students, the samovar, meant to produce steam for dramatic effect, explodes, covering them both in flour.
The dean, while initially furious, can't help but break out into laughter, acknowledging the spirit Ilya brought to the university.
[4] Critical reception was mixed, with many decrying the surprisingly low-budget set design, subpar filming, and long sequences that seemed "irrelevant to the plot".